Economy & Budget

The purpose of the Stop Over-Spending Act is to restore order to our financial house and make the government affordable for its citizens, especially for younger people who will be working to support the next generation as it retires. This package has been grossly misrepresented by the other side of the aisle.

The minority's attacks through the demagoguery of Social Security are not responsible. That's not governance. That's simply obstructionism for the sake of political gain. I think it's appropriate to point out what the facts are, versus what they believe the politics should be.

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Last night's vote to unlock some of our vast resources along the Outer Continental Shelf represents the culmination of a long, hard-fought, and, at times, contentious debate we started back when natural gas prices were a fraction of what they are today. Since then we've seen demand rise, supply fall, and prices approach levels no one ever thought possible. In truth, these resources should have been made available years ago, but I'm hopeful that the vote will send a strong message to consumers, seniors, working folks across the country, and maybe even the U.S. Senate that members of this chamber take seriously the effects of our current energy crisis and are willing to take steps necessary to end it.

The Bush-Oman Free Trade Agreement is a rotten deal for American working families.  The Bush-Oman deal follows in the bad tradition of deals like CAFTA, which have caused millions of American jobs to disappear to countries where employers can pay much less and pollute much more.

Even worse - and I can't emphasize this enough - entering a free trade deal with a country that has an abysmal record on human trafficking is a betrayal of the American commitment to freedom.

I don't understand how President Bush can make campaign speeches calling for freedom everywhere, and then reward a country that fails to stop the trafficking of people into forced labor.

Japan’s Prime Minister Koizumi’s visit to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Bush is a timely opportunity to talk about my bill blocking imports of Japanese beef if Japan doesn’t lift its unfair embargo on U.S. beef. Because the beef industry can’t tolerate this unfair ban much longer, I’ll push my bill forward to block Japanese beef imports until Japan fully resumes beef trade. This is an issue of fair trade, in principle and practice, and Nebraska’s significant beef industry deserves fairness.

Japan’s embargo on U.S. beef products over the last three years has cost the Nebraska beef industry $875 million and cost Nebraska 1300 jobs. I believe the ongoing embargo is unfair and the cumbersome Japanese bureaucracy is moving too slow to reinstate beef trade with the United States. I’ve expressed my frustration and have been in constant communication with Japanese officials, including Japan’s Ambassador to the United States, Ryozo Kato, trying to work out a solution to the trade impasse. I’ve always maintained that U.S. beef is the safest, highest quality beef in the world. And once Japan ends this unfair and bureaucratic embargo, I’m sure they’ll recognize the safety and quality of U.S. beef as well.

Social Security should be a guaranteed benefit, not a guaranteed gamble. It must be reliable, undeniable, and inflation-proof. I am alarmed to see that a budget will come to the floor next week that could be a backdoor way of privatizing Social Security.

Under the guise of empowering an unelected commission, they would have the authority to cut benefits to turn it over to Wall Street where seniors would have to rely on the political promises and fear the bear of a market. We cannot let this happen.

I think it's ironic that people who call for a "moral agenda" waste taxpayer money on mismanaged Katrina relief and on operations in Iraq, while cutting back on children's assistance.

They need a good look in the mirror.

Yesterday, an amendment was approved that would give $2 million to West Coast salmon fishers hit hard by a sharp cutback in this year's fishing season. This is nowhere near the amount of funds necessary, but getting funding for disaster assistance included in this bill is a significant victory for our coastal communities. I appreciate Chairman Wolf and my colleagues for recognizing that fishing communities in Oregon and California vitally need our help. We'll be fighting to get more assistance in the Senate and the conference committee.

Senator Nelson wants to have federal control of the state's coast. We can ill afford to do that with only 5% representation in Congress.

I want Florida's future to be more closely tied to its state legislature, which is not accountable to Texas, Oklahoma, and other oil states.

This is our coastline, and we need to determine our future.

The death tax is a socialist tax. It is born out of jealousy and envy. It says, "You've made too much money, so we want to take 1/2 of it from you."

We need to encourage people to make a good living, to pay their taxes while alive.

And while they're dead, the government should not steal from the wallets of their cold, lifeless body.

It's the clearest distinction between the two parties.
One party would pass enormous tax cuts for the richest 1% of the country when the division of wealth is greater than at any other time in American History, and at the same time, would starve social programs, such as the education system, that can help the middle class open up the same doors of opportunity that are wide open for the wealthy.  People on the minimum wage don't get capital gains tax cuts, they don't get dividends tax cuts.

If we want to celebrate work, we need to pay for work.  If Republicans want to get people off of welfare, then get them a job to enable them to afford a roof over their head, healthcare for their children.